AVÊÓƵ

The Politics of Armed Groups: Rebels, State and Society (014IRS)

30 credits, Level 6

Spring teaching

Why do people take up arms? How do armed groups govern in contexts of fragmented statehood? If wars are so profitable, how can peace come about?

This module takes armed groups as an entry point for understanding contemporary violent conflict and ways to address it. It equips you with analytical tools to understand:

• mobilisation
• organisation
• governance
• the political economy of armed groups.

The module also enables you to critically assess policies that seek to end armed conflict. This includes a policy brief where you focus on an armed group from around the world. 

Contact hours and workload

This module is approximately 300 hours of work. This breaks down into about 33 hours of contact time and about 267 hours of independent study. The University may make minor variations to the contact hours for operational reasons, including timetabling requirements.

We regularly review our modules to incorporate student feedback, staff expertise, as well as the latest research and teaching methodology. We’re planning to run these modules in the academic year 2025/26. However, there may be changes to these modules in response to feedback, staff availability, student demand or updates to our curriculum.

We’ll make sure to let you know of any material changes to modules at the earliest opportunity.